Scott Dunlap's blog of trail running, ultrarunning, triathlon, and other life adventures. I enjoy the physical, emotional, and spiritual journey of outdoor events and the chance to meet cool people. This blog contains interviews, research, original fiction, new product ideas, and all things trail running.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

The Biomechanics of Women's Breast Movement During Running

Joanna Scurr, a biomechanics professor at the University of Portsmouth in England has been studying the biomechanics of breast movement during running, and the effectiveness of various bra technology in minimizing the movement.

(Professor Scurr measures breast movement with the use of eight motion detectors;photo courtesy of the University of Portsmouth)

1) During walking exercise, the women's breasts moved relatively the same amount in all directions. But when participants sped up to a jog or run, their breasts moved proportionally more in some directions than others: More than 50 percent of the total movement was in the up-down direction, 22 percent side-to-side and 27 percent in-and-out.

4) Typical bras are made to reduce up and down movement. So-called "encapsulation" bras are a bit better than "compression" bras at reducing movement in other directions - in A-cup women, wearing a sports bra reduced overall breast movement by 53 percent, compared with a 55-percent reduction for G-cup women.

Holy cow! Could it possibly be true that there is that much movement? If so, that's gotta hurt. Particularly for ultra-distance athletes. Before I caught myself staring at all women on my next run to "confirm the facts", I thought I would look for some online video. A quick video of Pamela Anderson is "enlightening" (women, please excuse my dudeness - really, it's for science!):

Professor Scurr is now working with apparel manufacturers to put her study into new products, so perhaps more advanced help is on the way. In the meantime, Coach Wendy at Trifuel has an informative article on choosing a jog bra here.

Thanks for promoting the advancement of science and better understanding of the fairer sex. I honestly hope you win some sort of award for this provocative post. I can't wait to see my 2 1/2 year old's reaction to the video...("whoa!...")

Hey, do you think Ms. Baywatch herself might takeup trail ultrarunning? How about an interview with Pamela?

and your point was...that it must hurt? wow, your compassion is heartfelt..and the video of ol' Pam was a nice touch..and that was before she had her new "silis" bolted on..can you imagine what she must look like now, running? From who? Tommy Lee or Kid Rock? Why not a tidbit on that? Scott, sounds like you need to get out a bit more...

I can't believe it: all these years of running and I have never felt this "breast pain." Wait a minute--could it be that due to low body fat I barely make it into the let's just call it "A minus" cup size? Some "scientist" should do a similar study on men--perhaps in a different anatomical region. Also: I'm pretty sure that's about as far as Pam A. can run with all of the voluntarily added fake material up front and clearly moving in all three planes of motion. Good post.

No bra will ever help Pamela, that's for sure. I'll keep the rest on my thoughts to myself:) To Mark - hey, we are no fairer sex, come and get some of us! It's been outdated so long ago, men just made it up actually and it never was true...p.s. had to re-comment, as it was MT who stirred it with the "faire-ness":)

I'm going to assume that the jiggle factor for us larger guys is not too different than the ladies. I think this may be the reason why guys are prone to the point of nipple bleeding when running in cold weather and need nipguards.

Thank you for your work in our industry. Personal training, health club, private organizations, and many other fitness related outreach arenas can benefit from sharing our collective knowledge and experience just as you do online. Thanks have a great day.

About Me

I'm a technology entrepreneur who took up trail running and triathloning back in 2001 to get off the work treadmill and see a bit more of the outdoors. I also love to eat, so the exercise helps me justify those extra helpings. ;oP I'm always interested in learning more about trail running - please comment and link away!

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